Friday, 26 August 2011

Award-winning Syrian political cartoonist Ali Ferzat was forced from his car by masked gunmen in Damascus early yesterday morning, beaten up and had his hands broken. The thugs, presumably acting on behalf of Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad, told Ali "This is just a warning" as they beat him. "We will break your hands so that you'll stop drawing." Having broken his hands, they put a bag over his head and dumped him on the side of the road. He is now recovering in hospital (title link). His own prophetic cartoon depicted the situation in Syria 4 months ago: Smile. His website is reportedly shut down, but a cached version is still online (CLICK). Some of his cartoons were featured in the 2008 Telegraph exhibition in London Lighting lamps: cartoons from the Middle East. CLICK for a slide show of top cartoonists from the region.